Two Israeli soldiers wrestled a Palestinian youth to the ground and severely beat him around the Huwara checkpoint near Nablus on Saturday during clashes with demonstrators supporting Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.

Israeli soldiers detained Shaker M, 17, who was among a group of stone-throwing Palestinian youth attempting to flee the scene, according to Adnan Rabi, a lawyer with Defence for Children International Palestine. The soldiers repeatedly punched and kicked Shaker and struck him with their rifles, injuring his arm and breaking his right thumb when he tried to protect his head.

Shaker had a broken nose, black left eye, and multiple bruises on his body when Rabi saw him in the Israeli Salem military court, north of Jenin, on Wednesday. He was later taken to hospital and had a cast put on his hand. The judged ordered the military prosecution to investigate the case and report back to the court, Rabi said.

“The excessive use of force in this case is extreme, but not shocking given the frequency of such incidents,” said Rabi. “During arrest, transfer and interrogation, Palestinian children report that they are often subjected to some form of physical violence, such as being shoved, slapped, kicked or punched. When arrests occur in tense situations the physical violence is generally more severe.”

Another child being represented by Rabi at the military court that day, identified as Baha’ I, 15, also alleged Israeli soldiers beat him during his arrest. Earlier this week, Rabi said five more children he saw in the military court said they endured physical assault during their arrest on February 21 near Huwara checkpoint amid clashes with stone-throwing protesters.

Palestinians have held several demonstrations this month across the Occupied Palestinian Territory in support of four Palestinian prisoners on an extended hunger strike. Clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces intensified this week following the death of detainee, Arafat Jaradat, amid allegations of torture.

A report entitled “Bound, Blindfolded and Convicted” produced by DCI-Palestine and released in 2012 found that, out of 311 sworn testimonies collected between 2008-2012, 75 percent of Palestinian child detainees experience ill-treatment during arrest, interrogation and pre-trial detention.

The majority of the cases occur within 48 hours after an arrest and prior to a child’s first appearance before a military court judge.

Israeli soldiers forced a young Palestinian boy at gunpoint to walk among them while they confronted Palestinian demonstrators near Ofer prison outside Ramallah on February 17, Defence for Children International Palestine confirmed today.

Around midday, Mustafa Wahdan, 9, told DCI-Palestine that he was on his way home from his older brother’s car wash service, approximately 300 meters (1000 feet) from Ofer checkpoint, when clashes intensified, forcing him to take shelter in a nearby store. Israeli soldiers saw him enter the shop and rushed after him. They detained Mustafa, ordering him to raise his hands behind his head, and allegedly used him as a human shield for several hours while they fired teargas canisters and rubber bullets at stone-throwing protesters. “Whenever they wanted to fire teargas or shoot bullets at the protesters, they would take me with them,” said Mustafa. “I was really scared that a stone might hit me or something.” Mustafa said that one of the soldiers kept his rifle pointed at his back throughout the experience. He was finally let go when his father arrived at the scene and pleaded with the soldiers for his son’s release. “At home, Mustafa was still very scared,” said Mohammad Wahdan, Mustafa’s father. “He was silent and did not have his dinner. In the morning, my wife told me that Mustafa was shaking while he was sleeping. The following night, he wet himself.” The use of human shields is prohibited by international humanitarian law, and involves the forced presence of civilians to shield an area or soldiers from harm or forcing civilians to directly assist in military operations. Since 2004, DCI-Palestine has documented 20 cases of Palestinian children used as human shields by Israeli forces, 19 of which occurred after the 2005 decision by the Israeli High Court of Justice prohibiting the practice under Israeli domestic law. “We are deeply concerned by the continued use of Palestinian children as human shields,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Program Director at DCI-Palestine. “Israeli forces continue to blatantly disregard international law, as well as their own domestic law. We demand that the Israeli authorities conduct a prompt, transparent and impartial investigation and hold the perpetrators accountable.” Palestinians have held several demonstrations this month across the Occupied Palestinian Territory in support of four Palestinian prisoners on an extended hunger strike. Clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces intensified this week following the death of detainee, Arafat Jaradat, amid allegations of torture. Addameer, the Palestinian prisoner rights group, says 4,812 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jails. Of those, 223 are children ages 12-17, according to DCI-Palestine research.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center, in Silwan town in occupied East Jerusalem, reported that Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Wednesday evening and on Thursday at dawn, two Palestinian children in the town, and took him to interrogation facilities.

The Center said that several Israeli soldiers invaded a home in Wad Yasoul area, in Silwan, searched the property, and kidnapped a child identified as Eyad Ahmad Rweidy, 17. The attack was carried out approximately at 5 at dawn Thursday.

Rweidy was moved to the Al-Maskobiyya, detention and interrogation facility in Jerusalem. On Wednesday evening, the Israeli Police kidnapped a Palestinian child, identified as identified as Amir Froukh, 14, after claiming that he hurled stones at Israeli military vehicles in Silwan.

The Information Center reported that several Israeli soldiers and policemen invaded the home of Al-Froukh in Ein al-Loza neighborhood, but the child was at his grandfather’s residence.

They soldiers headed to the grandfather’s home and arrested the child and his uncle.

Both were placed in a police vehicle, but the soldiers released the uncle, and told him that the child will be moved to the interrogation and detention facility in Jabal Abu Ghneim “Har Homa” illegal settlement.

The child was kept in the police vehicle for more than two hours, and was then moved to the police station. The police interrogated the child aft0er claiming that he hurled stones at the Israeli forces in Silwan.

It is worth mentioning that, last month, the child was detained for two days before being released on bail, and was forced out of Jerusalem for two weeks. He was sent to the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and was repeatedly interrogated by the Israeli police in the city.

Late on Wednesday at night, the army demolished two rooms, a sheep farm and a wall that belong to resident Sharif Mousa Liqyana, in Beit Iksa village, near Jerusalem.

The soldiers demolished a 250 square/meter sheep farm, two 50 square/meter residential rooms and the wall that surround the farm.

Liqyana stated that he built the farm two years ago, with a total cost of 130 NIS, and that in June of last year, the Jerusalem Municipality decided to demolish his property.

He contacted a lawyer and managed to get all construction permits in order, but the army demolished the structure without a prior notice.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli District Court in Jerusalem, sentenced a 15-year-old child, identified as Ali Mheisin, to four months imprisoned. The child was taken prisoner two months ago.

The court also rejected an appeal for the release of another child, identified as Mohammad Raed Siyam, 16, and decided to hold another hearing on February 27.

The child’s father stated his son was examined by a physician due to a deterioration in his health condition. He was forced into solitary confinement for 14 days in direct violation of an Israeli court ruling.

Siyam was kidnapped on January 18 after the army broke into and searched his family’s home in Silwan.

The Israeli prosecution claims that the child hurled Molotov Cocktails at an illegal Israeli settlement outpost in the area.

Silwan has been under constant Israeli military attacks, intensifying 23 days ago, as the Police imposed fines on dozens of residents, issued tickets against local vehicles, cut water supplies, an handed several residents orders for the demolition of their homes and stores under the pretext that they were built without construction permits.

It is worth mentioning that 10 Palestinians, ages 13-23, have been kidnapped in Bab Hatta neighborhood, in Jerusalem, over the past few days; all of them, except for four, have been released, some ordered under house arrest.

Israeli occupation soldiers stormed Silwan town, south of occupied Jerusalem, at dawn Thursday and nabbed two Palestinian boys. The Wadi Hilwa information center said that the soldiers took 17-year-old Iyad Ruwaidi from his family home at 0500 am today.

It said that the soldiers summoned the boy’s mother also for interrogation at the Maskobeh detention center where her son is held.

The center said that the soldiers also took another child from Silwan but from another area, adding that 14-year-old Amir Al-Faroukh was taken to an interrogation center in Jabal Abu Ghunaim to the west of occupied Jerusalem.

During January 2013: two children were killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers from live ammunition; Palestinian children living in villages located near Israeli settlements continue to be exposed to settler and soldier violence; the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Israeli Settlements issues report finding that Israeli settlements violate international law and suggests that settlements represent a "creeping annexation" of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

On Monday 11th February, Wadi Hilweh information center said that Israeli police arrested a 13-year-old Palestinian for the 14th time in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

The center said Israeli police raided the house of Musllam Odeh at dawn before arresting him.

Odeh was first arrested at the age of nine for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli police.

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the city of Nablus and roamed its suburbs before arresting a liberated prisoner while a Jerusalemite child was arrested among six Palestinians nabbed at dawn Monday.

Local sources said that the soldiers arrested Yazan Sawalha, who is a former prisoner in Israeli occupation jails, after breaking into his home in western Nablus and wreaking havoc in it.

Meanwhile, IOF soldiers arrested four Palestinians in Jenin, one in the city and three others in Seelat Al-Harithiya village after searching their homes.

In occupied Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers burst into Bustan suburb to the south of the Aqsa mosque and arrested a 13-year-old child.

Wadi Hilwa information center said that the soldiers detained Muslim Ode, 13, after barging into his family home.

Jumana Alaa’ Shahada Abu Jazar (11) was just 4 months old when her mother died and, shortly afterwards, her father was imprisoned in an Israeli jail. Alaa’ (37) was arrested while accompanying his father to Israel for medical treatment. Jumana has not been allowed to visit her father in prison since she was two years old, denied access to Israel “for security reasons”. An only child, Jumana has been raised by her grandmother, Maryam (67), and her uncle, Ayman. Her grandfather, Shahada, died soon after her father was arrested, having been denied permission to travel to Egypt to seek medical care. Jumana called her grandmother ‘Mum’, and her uncle ‘Dad’. When she was 5 years old, she came home from school one day and said to Maryam, “Mum, I want to ask you a question, and please don’t lie. How can it be that you are my mother and my father’s mother as well?” It was on that day Jumana came to understand that her mother had died when she was still a baby. In February 2009, at the age of 22, Jumana’s uncle, Ayman, was killed in a drone strike near the family home. Maryam describes the effect on Jumana: “When she came home and I told her what had happened, she began fainting, saying over and over, “My mother is dead. My father is in prison. My uncle is dead. Who will I call ‘Daddy’ now?”“ Jumana looks pained at the memory, and says, “He was killed on my father’s birthday, the 2nd of February.” Jumana is an excellent student and comes top of her class. She was awarded a prize by the local mosque for being the youngest person to recite the Koran by heart, and presented with a copy of the Koran, which is displayed in the family living room. Jumana is diligent, and uses a torch to study when there is no electricity. But her achievements feel empty. Her teachers ask why she is not happy with her results, and she answers, “If my father or mother or my uncle Ayman were with me, then I would be happy.”

Maryam was allowed to visit Alaa’ in prison once in 2012, when prisoner visits recommenced following the agreement brokered by the Egyptian authorities on 14 May between prisoners, detainees and the Israeli authorities to end a hunger strike started by Palestinian prisoners and their families. She had not seen her son for nine years. “I was overwrought and exhausted by the time I reached the prison. I felt so much pressure to represent Jumana who could not be there herself. I didn’t know how I could ask all the questions that I needed to ask on her behalf. I had just half an hour with my son. In the end, I fainted. I was overwhelmed.” Maryam phones the ICRC every week to find out if she or Jumana will be able to visit him soon. “This week, I was told again that no visit was planned. I do not know if we are denied the right to visit him permanently or if we will be allowed to visit one day. I worry, because I myself am not well. I suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes and problems with my heart. I only hope that I will live long enough to look after Jumana until her father’s release.” The expected date of Alaa’’s release is in 2021, eight years from now, but Jumana is hopeful that he might be released in time to see her receive her high school diploma. In 2011, when 477 Palestinian prisoners were released in return for the release of Gilad Shalit, the Abu Jazar family had hoped in vain that Alaa’ might be among them. Jumana says, “I began to daydream about my father coming home. I wanted to bring a big folk band to the border crossing to welcome him home. I wanted to make a CD of all the songs I have written and play them to him, and recite all my poems to him.”

Jumana has no real memory of her father, but she listens to her grandmother’s stories about him and makes him as part of her daily life. She speaks to his photograph, telling him about her day at school, her friends, her exam results. She longs for the day when she will be able to share this news with him in person. Alaa’ sends his daughter gifts as often as he can, carried back to Rafah by prisoners who have been released. He crafts necklaces and bracelets from coloured beads. He has sent two notebooks for Jumana to fill, the margins decorated with his artwork, depicting flowers and birds and human hands breaking free of their shackles. Since the first grade, when she learned to read and write, Jumana has begun filling the pages with her thoughts, her memories, her hopes, and the poems that she composes. She wrote the poem below last year, when her father embarked on the large-scale hunger strike in which hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails took part. Jumana herself fasted in solidarity with her father, refusing to take anything but water and yoghurt for 22 days. A new day starts with the beginning of your hunger strikeA morning when I don’t know what hope I have leftA morning of more heartache and painDaddy, I still have hopeThough I have never felt true happinessDaddy, resist, for as long as you are strong, I am strongYou’re the only hope I have leftAll my loved ones have gone, they left meMy Mum, my uncle, my grandfatherAll are so far away from me They deny me from touching your hand or kissing your foreheadThey cause me heartache and painThey deny me the chance to say the word ‘Daddy’Daddy, I miss saying it every dayI wonder when I will be able to speak to you and call you ‘Daddy’I want the whole world to hear me saying ‘Daddy’I hear children everywhere say the wordI have never been able to say it to youDaddy, when will you be out?I will go with you wherever you goI’ll sleep next to you and walk with youI’ll introduce you to the whole worldTo my friends and my neighboursAnd I will ask them, “Do you have a Daddy like mine?”Daddy, here starts another day of your hunger strikeDaddy, when will I see you?Daddy, today you define me Because, without you, my existence would have no meaningEvery day, I kiss your photographAnd I know the day will comeWhen you will hold me in your embrace Under Article 37 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, “[p]risoners shall be allowed under necessary supervision to communicate with their family and reputable friends at regular intervals, both by correspondence and by receiving visits.” This is supported by Principle 19 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, which states that “[a] detained or imprisoned person shall have the right to be visited by and to correspond with, in particular, members of his family and shall be given adequate opportunity to communicate with the outside world.” Moreover, under Article 9 (3) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, States Parties shall respect the rights of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child’s best interests.

Israeli forces arrested Fathia Khanfar, 56, mother of prisoner Rami Youssef, upon her arrival to Negev prison to visit her son, while they released at dawn Monday the captive's two daughters. The lawyer for the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) stated that the two girls arrived to Mitron checkpoint near al-Khalil Valley in a bad psychological state. They were handed over to the Palestinian authorities to be returned to their family that lives in the town of Silat al-Dhahr in Jenin district.

Raed Khanfar brother of captive Rami said that the occupation authorities are still detaining his mother, who suffers from a difficult health condition, pending investigation.

He added that the prison administration has transferred his brother Rami, who is suffering from several health issues, to the solitary confinement cells after the arrest of his mother.

The Israeli occupation authorities released 60 members of families from Nablus after detaining them for several hours under harsh conditions in the Negev desert prison. They have also canceled the visits and prevented the captives' families from seeing their sons.

On 26 December 2012, a 12-year-old boy from Yatta, Hebron, was injured when he was hit in the head by a teargas canister fired by an Israeli soldier.

Twelve-year-old Mohammad lives in Yatta and studies at Yatta Basic School for Boys. At around 3:00 p.m., Mohammad heard people running in front of his house because Israeli soldiers had entered the village. Mohammad decided to go out and join them and recalls that soldiers were heading towards the mosque to arrest a village resident, about 100 metres northwest of his house. Mohammad saw 10 military jeeps and tens of soldiers deployed in the area. Youths were throwing stones at them. “I noticed one of the soldiers was on a rooftop of one of the houses where the jeeps were parked. I felt really scared because he was looking at me. I ran off immediately. I ran for about three metres and then was hit by a teargas canister on the left side of my head,” Mohammad recalls. Mohammad fell to the ground and was assisted by a young man who helped him move and sit up against a wall where he could not be spotted by the soldiers. “I was losing my balance and was really scared,” he adds. After having been told that the soldiers were not coming after him, Mohammad went back home. His mother, worried about his condition and the lump on his head, called Mohammad’s father so that he could bring him to the hospital. Brought in the neighbour’s car, Mohammad arrived at Abu Hasan Qasem Hospital in Yatta around an hour later. There doctors transferred him by taxi to Aliya Hospital where Mohammad was given first aid treatment and x-rays were taken. About one and a half hours later he was transferred to Al Mezan Hospital in Hebron. Mohammad was admitted to the intensive care unit and discharged three days later. The day after he was released from the hospital, Mohammad had spasms and was taken back to Aliya Hospital where he spent two days and received further treatment. “I am home now but still on medication. I could not take my final exams because of my injury, and my father said he would talk to my teachers about it,” says Mohammad.

On 13 December 2012, a 16-year-old boy from Hebron was struck in the abdomen by a bullet fired by an Israeli soldier during clashes between Israeli soldiers and protesters in Hebron.

Sixteen-year-old Naser lives in Hebron and works in a cardboard factory. He dropped out of school before finishing the eighth grade. At around 7:30 p.m., Naser found himself caught up in clashes between Israeli soldiers and protesters while he was headed to the store to buy a few things for the house. Naser recalls that protesters were throwing stones at the soldiers, who responded by firing teargas. “I stood to the side, across the street from the protesters, watching the clashes for about five minutes. Then I felt things were becoming more serious, so I decided to leave,” he says. Naser walked to Al-Tuffah street: “I was walking really fast,” he recalls. After walking for about five metres down the street he heard shooting and felt his hand suddenly become numb and he started running. “I realized that I had been injured in the lower part of my back and in my right elbow. I kept running. I was extremely terrified. I ran for about 50 metres but then fell down on the right side of the street near the public library building.” Some people that were nearby picked Naser up from the street, put him in a car, and drove him to Alia hospital, which was not far from where he had been injured. There he was provided first aid treatment and transferred by ambulance about an hour later to Al Mizan Hospital in the northern part of the city. At the hospital, Naser underwent surgery to remove a bullet that had hit him in his lower back and entered his abdomen. The surgery took about five hours. On the day this interview was conducted, Naser was still at Al Mizan hospital and had been informed by doctors that he would need to have another surgery on his left arm in the coming days.

Name: Mohammad E. Date of Incident: 19 November 2012Age: 17 yearsLocation: Tqou’, BethlehemNature of incident: InjuryOn 19 November 2012, a 17-year-old boy from the village of Tqou’, Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, was shot on his way to school by an Israeli soldier.

“On Monday morning, I headed to school and walked on a dirt road near a main street that passes through the village and connects Bethlehem to Hebron. Jewish settlers use the main street to travel to and from their settlements east of Bethlehem. Israeli soldiers also use that street,” says Mohammad. “I was 150 metres away from school when Israeli soldiers who stormed our village started firing teargas canisters at protestors who were throwing stones,” recalls Mohammad. “I was unaware of the two soldiers across the street until one of them shot me later,” he adds. Mohammad reports that a soldier pointed his rifle at him and shot one bullet that hit him in the lower abdomen. “I fell down and I was in severe pain. I was terrified and thought I was going to die,” says Mohammad. Mohammad was picked up by people nearby and was taken to the village health centre by one of his teachers. He was later taken by an ambulance to al-Hussein Hospital in Beit Jala where he received medical treatment. “The doctors provided me with the necessary treatment and transferred me to al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron city,” recalls Mohammad. Due to his injury, Mohammad underwent a bladder surgery at the hospital. At the time of the interview Mohammad had already missed 10 days of school and was still at the hospital awaiting an operation to plant a joint in his pelvis and further treatment.

Name: Abdullah G. Date of Incident: 19 November 2012Age: 13 yearsLocation: QalqiliyaNature of incident: Soldier violenceOn 19 November 2012, a 13-year-old boy from Qalqiliya was injured by a tear gas canister fired by an Israeli soldier.

Thirteen-year-old Abdullah lives in Qalqiliya and is in sixth grade at as-Siddiq Basic School. At around 11:30a.m., Abdullah was demonstrating in Jaljulia Street, Qalqiliya, in protest against Israel’s latest military offensive on the Gaza Strip. “I saw Israeli Army soldiers firing teargas canisters from an observation tower located in Jaljulia Street,” says Abdullah. Soldiers started to fire teargas canisters intensely as Abdullah and other protestors were marching towards the observation tower. Abdullah turned around and started walking away due to the heavy teargas fire. “I looked back at the soldiers and looked away to the sky so I would not look directly at the many teargas canisters falling on the ground,” says Abdullah. “While I was looking away, one of the teargas canisters hit me in the nose and knocked me down.” Abdullah’s nose started to bleed as soon as he was hit by the teargas canister. He was taken to a hospital by one of the protestors and fainted several times along the way. “One of the youths rushed towards me immediately and picked me off the ground and took me to a hospital,” recalls Abdullah. At the hospital, Abdullah underwent surgery as his nose was broken and subsequently had to spend a day at the hospital following the surgery. Abdullah has to miss school for a week because of his injury. “I need to get better before I go back to school,” says Abdullah.